"A Million Ways to Die in the West" R
Taking a page or more from Rob Zemekis, Mel Brooks and Quentin Tarantino, Seth McFarlane's corny western ode is a ballad of gross jokes and gunfight cliches but it actually works somehow. The creators of Ted and a few Comedy Central shorts summon their inner cowboy and go out to the 1880s in Arizona.
This is nowhere near the town in Back to the Future 3 even though it's referenced in the trailer, Hill Valley California is clearly some town near Los Angeles in that film, and that scene was in 1885, not 1883 when this takes place.
The town is not all that important though. The gag is that it's such an awful hell hole that frequently people randomly die just because chance is a bad, bad thing. The hero is a sheep 'farmer' who is dumped by his girl because she likes a man with a mustache. His upright Christian friend is a clueless puppy who is dating the town harlot, at the cat house, and is oblivious to this fact even when told repeatedly.
Then in comes the oily bad guy, the nastiest gunslinger in the west, who married his partner ridiculously young, and runs around killing defenseless prospectors and anyone who looks at him funny. The wife though runs on ahead during a raid and befriends the hero, teaching him about life while observing the town's self destruction firsthand.
Eventually it will be up to the hero to face the villain and save the day, but along the way he gets high off an overdose of Indian spirits and gets into several near gunfights.
It could have been a hilarious movie, and at times it almost is roaring funny, but the jokes are mostly gross outs, that modern stock of joke where it's funny to make someone poop in a hat...a lot. (It was pretty funny actually).
Then at times is tries so hard to imitate Blazing Saddles that one half expects the cabaret ending. I will not give away the Tarantino connection though. They go there.
Some things in this movie are just downright mean, from the dastardly villain to the disaffected parents of the hero who when he was a boy left him a disgusting surprise from the Tooth Fairy.
The gags about the cathouse are actually pretty clever. At one point a bandit holds up the feeble guy and his hooker girlfriend and his reply is, 'Don't shoot us during night sex'. Ha.
The all star cast is well known and they seem to enjoy the film.
It's not a great movie but it would make a decent rental or even to own on the bargain bin.
Review by Adam Browne
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